Our guest unraveller today is Jemima and she resides in England. She comes to Nigeria quite often and was happy to tell us about her stay at Le Meriden Hotel & Golf Resort, Uyo in Akwa Ibom State. Read & enjoy.
There are three factors I consider before picking a vacation spot:
1: Exercise facilities – gym, grounds to run and swimming pool.
2: Peace and Quiet – having a full time job means that any time I get off work has to be spent in a serene environment where I can completely detox and sleep without any disturbance.
3: Great for family – spacious rooms, team building activities, nice restaurants and child friendly amenities.
The Le Meridien Resort, Uyo ticks all these boxes and even more.
I spent 12 days in total at the hotel and it was one of the best vacations I’ve had. I can even compare it to spending 10 days in Seychelles or 7 days in Fort Myers.
This was my third visit to the hotel and it definitely won’t be my last. Every time we visit as a family, we leave with fond memories to last till our next vacation. I stayed in one of the Queen bedrooms with a balcony facing one of the many gardens on site. From here, I could watch the sun rise and set in complete serenity.
The main restaurant on site offers buffet options for those who love variety. Options ranging from local to international dishes, salad to dessert bar; there’s something to suit every palette. Although I was on holiday, I stuck with a healthy diet of salads, fish, whole grains, vegetable soups, boiled plantain, egg sauce…the list goes on and on. Like I tell my Clients, there’s no excuse to stray off the healthy eating path on holiday. Your body is your temple; feed it with only the best. I must confess, I did treat myself to a slice of cake on my nephew’s birthday and two plates of the best jollof rice I’ve had! It was another great dish.
If you are a lover of grilled fish, then head to the Marina Bar. One word describes it all “awesome”! Sadly, I devoured part of the dish before I realised I should have taken a picture. It was the distance from my elbow to my hand and as wide as well. It was so good that I finished it all by my lonesome! Don’t forget the name; The Marina Bar! It is located by a lake with live entertainment in the evenings and is perfect for relaxing after a long day.
Every meal was amazing but I’ll stick with the three in this article.
The swimming pool bar had a tapas selection that would rival Spanish restaurants around the globe. The menu had lots of options to choose from; I opted for snails, prawns, smoked salmon, cheese meatballs and olives.
Being a fitness enthusiast the 24 hours access fitness centre was the cherry on top of the fruit salad. An ideal day was spent like this, 8am HIIT class at the gym (chaired by yours truly), breakfast at 10:00, family bonding time at 11:30, swimming pool at 14:00 personal reflection at 16:00 and dinner at 19:00. The highlight of the day was karaoke, I apologise to everyone who had to hear me sing.
I ventured out of the hotel on the 28th of December to attend the Calabar carnival which was an interesting experience. Word of advice, do not plan a day trip to attend the carnival. I ended up missing most of the floats because we had to head back to Uyo before it got dark.
A friend of mine also took me for a drive round the City, having grown up in “The Garden City” Port Harcourt, I was amazed to see how beautiful and serene Uyo was. Good roads, no traffic, cinema, Christmas garden with dancing fountains reminiscent of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Even the air smelled different, felt like breathing in peace.
How can 12 days fly by so fast? After 12 days, I still did not get to use all the facilities at the hotel. On my next visit I must play lawn tennis, badminton, attempt to shoot some hoops and watch people play golf because I have absolutely no clue how golf works. They do give golf lessons so I may take them up on that. Talking about golf, the golf course was truly impressive, we went on a nature hike through the golf course to the rain forest. It took us about an hour to hike there and back and all that within the grounds of the hotel (see video below for part of it).
I’d recommend the Le Meridien Resort Uyo any day to anyone looking for a piece of paradise in Nigeria.
Le Meridien Resort is located at Nwaniba Road PMB 1200, Uyo and you can click here for their website.